What's your name? Where are you from? Why are you here? Oh, and tell us a ghost story!

Pioneer Press

Posted:
10/22/2012 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated:
10/23/2012 09:56:33 AM CDT

The little treasures

Writes JAM of Woodbury: This picture was taken of my daughter Rhonda when she was about 3 years old. We liked the smiling pictures, too, but this one was our favorite. On October 23rd (at 5:22 p.m.) she will be 45 years old. Happy birthday, Rhonda! She's a glass half full person, so it's rare to see a frown on her face.

By the way, when I saw my doctor the Friday before she was born, he asked me not to have the baby on Sunday, because he was going to the Vikings game. Even though I was way past due, I waited until Monday. Or I should say: SHE waited until Monday.

Writes The Doryman
of Prescott, Wis.: "A few years ago, I was at an art retreat with a group of strangers at the Cloquet Forestry Center, which (as the name implies) is in the deep, dark woods of northern Minnesota. That week, our accommodations would be little individual cabins scattered about the pines.

"The moderator at our orientation meeting asked us to take turns introducing ourselves with the old 'state your name, where you are from, why you are here' thing. As a twist to the tired old ritual, he suggested another one: 'Also tell your favorite ghost story.'

"The most effective one was last, and short. A fellow -- who looked every bit as one would imagine a serial killer to appear -- said in a deep voice: 'I don't know any ghost stories, but if you hear a knock on your cabin door tonight, whatever you do, don't let me in!' "

Our pets, ourselves

Arkatect of Mendota Heights: "Is it possible that the 'old beagle' is a lot smarter than I give him credit for?

"Even though he has food in his dog bowl, he waits patiently by my side at the breakfast, lunch and dinner tables until I am done eating. Is he just being courteous, or is it that he really prefers my food over his? [Bulletin Board says: Time for an experiment! Put some of your food in his bowl, and see if he waits patiently.]

"A recent trend is the constant staring at me while I eat.

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Not a part of his body moves. I can feel his big beautiful eyes upon me, like he is sending me some kind of dog-subliminal message: 'Feed me ... feed me ... !' It is really difficult to eat under these conditions; it really is. Darn 'old beagle.' "

What's in a name?

Grandparents Division

Great-Grandmother Guga: "After reading all the names pertaining to grandmothers, my favorite is the one my great-grandson, Shannon, came up with for his grandmother, Nancy. One day they were asking him what he should call her; he pointed directly to her and said very decidedly: 'Buddy.' Very significant, as they do spend many fun times together. Who knows how that precious name popped out of his 2-1/2-year-old vocabulary? So she is 'Buddy' forever and ever."

ArtGekko of LindstrÃ¶m: "My oldest nephew, Nick, is going to be married in less than six months, and he alone coined the grandparent-titles of my parents for the 13 other grandchildren who followed him.

"My dad was a big, round guy, and my mom is pretty petite and slight. So when he was about 2, Nick decided they should be 'Big Gramp and Little Gram.' Big Gramp has been gone for nearly 15 years, but Little Gram is still going strong and loves that moniker.

"Nick's dad (my brother-in-law) also bestowed a unique title on his grandmother. His parents would tell him that 'Company is coming!' whenever his grandmother was going to be visiting, so he naturally thought her name was 'Company,' which he shortened into 'Compy,' which stuck for some 50-plus years!"

Precociously yours... (resp'l)

Saturday email from The Farmer's Daughter: "There was an article in today's Bulletin Board by The Farmer's Daughter. It was not me [Bulletin Board notes: It was The Farmer's Daughter of Blaine -- who, uncharacteristically, did not include her hometown], but I also have memories about learning to write.

"I went to St. Bernard's grade school, and we used to write with the Palmer Method. We spent many hours practicing, and awards were given. I have always been told that I have very nice handwriting. And 'older' people recognize the use of the Palmer method.

"I believe that the students now don't even learn how to write. Printing and computers have taken over.

"While attending Commercial Business School, again at St. Bernard's, I learned to type on a manual typewriter. I used the typewriter for just about everything I needed: many letters, recipes, directions, games for showers, and eventually many reports for my children's school projects. This was all before the electric typewriter. When I moved, we got rid of my typewriter. I still miss it.

"I am back to writing again. It is not as good as it was, since my sight is failing. But I know I learned from the best!"

From Wil of Lake Elmo: "To The Farmer's Daughter [of Blaine]: I, too, was not allowed to use cursive writing in second grade. My teacher made us print. I'm still not sure if she couldn't read cursive, or just didn't want to bother teaching it to us. Maybe this explains why this 70-plus OTDer still doesn't do a good job at cursive? Naahhhh. Thank goodness for computers, though ... now I don't need to do either write or print! Life is good."

Sandra of St. Paul: "The Farmer's Daughter's story about writing letters to her aunt and signing them 'nephew' instead of 'niece' brought to mind another story of letter writing and a niece.

"My father served in Europe during World War II. When writing letters home, they were not allowed to give their exact location. He received a letter from his sister, telling him that she was expecting their first child and that he was going to be an uncle. In his responding letter to her, he was adamant that she was to name his niece Frances. When my father returned home, my aunt asked him why he was so insistent that if the baby was a girl, they name her Frances.

"My dad laughed and told her: 'I thought you would get it. My "niece Frances" was a way of trying to tell you where I was stationed -- in Nice [pronounced niece], France.'

"Dad ended up with a nephew instead of a niece."

BULLETIN BOARD SAYS: Nice? Nice! Did they name the nephew Francis?

Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon

Reports mattzdad of Rochester: "Wednesday, I received a copy of 'WWII History' magazine. In it was an article about Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana. She cast the lone dissenting vote in 1941 to declare war on Japan. She had campaigned on a 'won't send your sons to war' policy, and she stuck to it.

"Thursday, I received my latest issue of Classic Car magazine. Each issue has a 'Rearview Mirror' page. This month it was 1916, and guess who was born in 1916: Jeannette Rankin. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, thus becoming the first woman elected to Congress.

"I'm 64, and in all my years I had never even heard of her.

"Finally a B-M for mattzdad."

Vanity, thy name is...

Semi-Legend: "1. Walt of Wayzata, in the Friday, Oct. 19 BB, reported that his wife saw a personalized plate on the back of a Lexus. The plate read 'YUNV ME.'

"AXLY NO.

"2. Today my wife and I saw a plate near Oxendale's market in Minneapolis. Wisconsin plate on a Scion: '666 AGE.' 'New Age?' I asked my wife. She noticed a fish with a cross affixed to the rear. 'Mixed marriage,' she surmised."

Not exactly what she had in mind

Double J of South Minneapolis: "The History Theatre shares space with McNally Smith College of Music, but the woman behind us at 'Lombardi' called it the Rand McNally College of Music.

"I guess music students can go there to map out a career."

Big enough for ya? Small enough for ya?

Sunday email from Rusty of St. Paul: "I was born in -- and have lived most of my life in -- St. Paul, and LOVE what a 'little big city' it is.

"This morning I was leaving my church in St. Paul, had public radio on the car radio and heard a piece sung by the Dale Warland Singers. It was a piece familiar to me and very beautiful. Our minister, Rob, has a huge understanding of the power of song. I saw him outside the church and called him over to hear the piece, but it was during an unfamiliar segment, and I was blanking on the composer and the title.

"Late in the afternoon, I was doing yard work and spied my neighbor across the alley. 'Hey, Mindy,' I called. 'What was the Dale Warland piece you played at 11 a.m. today?

" 'That was Morten Lauridsen's "O Magnum Mysterium." His name is of the Danish spelling, but he isn't Danish Danish.'

"I emailed the info to my minister, who emailed me back that of course he knew the piece and loved it.

"You see, Mindy is the announcer who played the piece. She lives across the alley from me, and was available to ask on this spectacular fall day. And I think this alignment wouldn't have happened in too many other cities."